Chocolate cupcakes with fresh blackberry buttercream:
Yes yes, these cupcakes are absolutely beautiful. But, I promise the taste and the appearance line up. You can frost these blackberry cupcakes with a butter knife, and the rustic appearance would never detract from the incredible flavors. My daughter’s first taste of a sugar was at her 2nd birthday, where I made her my Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake with a triple batch of this blackberry buttercream slathered on top. Camille has always loved blackberries, and it seemed natural to work blackberries into her cake. After tasting the combination of chocolate and blackberries, I knew this recipe would become a family favorite! The chocolate cupcake is moist, rich, and packed with chocolate flavor. Instead of using cocoa powder, we’re going to melt chocolate into oil to use as the chocolate base for this cupcake. Cocoa powder is great, but using melted chocolate in a cupcake really makes these next level. Excuse me while I preach about how cupcakes made with oil, so hear me out, okay? I always make cupcakes with oil so that they’re more tender, fluffy and softer. Cupcakes made with butter can be firm on the edges, which is something I do not prefer. If you refrigerate cupcakes that are made with butter, they will become hard and strange. I will walk you through the steps of melting chocolate in the microwave—it’s very simple! And, I’ll give you alternate directions if you’d like to use the stove instead. For the chocolate, grab your favorite semisweet chocolate bar and give it a chop. It can be a baking bar, or it can be a bar with around 60% cacao. Dark chocolate or bittersweet chocolate might be a little too dry here, so look for anything from 35-60% cacao. Wow, this beautiful purple blackberry buttercream deserves our attention, doesn’t it? My favorite thing about this frosting is that it uses FRESH BLACKBERRIES. We’re using the beaters to break up the fruit, and the beautiful blackberry juice stains the buttercream a lovely violet color. This means the frosting has seeds, so if that bothers you, push the blackberries through a strainer that drips into the bowl with the butter. You might also like my strawberry cream cheese frosting.
Ingredients:
Semisweet Chocolate. This is chocolate with a cacao percentage between 35 and 60%. Anything higher than 60% might make these cupcakes a little too dry. Use a semisweet chocolate baking bar or semisweet chocolate chips. Oil. A neutral oil that does not have any flavor is best for baking: vegetable oil, canola oil, grape seed oil, or avocado oil. Do not use something with a strong flavor like olive oil. Granulated Sugar. Vanilla Extract. Egg. Flour. Baking Powder. Salt. Unsalted Butter. Powdered Sugar. Almond Extract. Just one drop of almond extract brings out the flavor of the blackberries. Fresh Blackberries. About 12-15 fresh blackberries that have been rinsed and dried very well. Lime. We’re using lime zest to make the blackberry flavor pop, and if you feel that your buttercream needs some extra liquid to come together, cut open the lime and use a splash of the lime juice. Blackberries and lime juice go together very well, just like my frozen blackberry limeade recipe.
How to make blackberry cupcakes:
Which other cupcake flavors would this fresh blackberry buttercream frosting go with?
While I paired this incredible frosting with chocolate cupcakes today, I can attest it’s great on my small batch lemon cupcakes (as seen above), or my birthday cake cupcakes. You can double the recipe and smear it on my small vanilla cake, too!
How to double or triple this recipe for blackberry cupcakes:
Yes, this is a small batch chocolate cupcakes recipe, but if you want to make more cupcakes: follow the recipe exactly. Use 3 whole eggs, and triple the amount of all ingredients. Do not change anything else about the recipe.
Other blackberry recipes you would love:
No Bake Blackberry Cheesecake Blackberry Chip Ice Cream Blackberry Cheesecake Brownies
Semisweet Chocolate: This is chocolate with a cacao percentage between 35 and 60%. Anything higher than 60% might make these cupcakes a little too dry. Use a semisweet chocolate baking bar or semisweet chocolate chips.Oil: A neutral oil that does not have any flavor is best for baking: vegetable oil, canola oil, grape seed oil, or avocado oil. Do not use something with a strong flavor like olive oil.Almond Extract: Just one drop of almond extract brings out the flavor of the blackberries.Fresh Blackberries: About 12-15 fresh blackberries that have been rinsed and dried very well.Lime: We’re using lime zest to make the blackberry flavor pop, and if you feel that your buttercream needs some extra liquid to come together, cut open the lime and use a splash of the lime juice.
Wilton 6-cup Muffin Pan
